Feed mechanism for machine guns



Aug. 22, 1950 Filed Sept. 14, 1945 A. K. WATT 2,519,947

FEED MECHANISM FOR MACHINE GUNS 3 Sheets-Sheet l MZMMM www Aug- 22, 195o A. K. WATT 2,519,947

FEED MECHANISM FOR MACHINE GUNS Filed Sept. 14, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 SWW/WDM Andrew K. W'ELE Aug. 22, 1950 A. K. WATT FEED MECHANISM FoR MACHINE GUNS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 14, 1945 y if Mfumw www Patented ug. 2.2, 95

FEED MECHANISM FOR MACHINE GUNS Andrew K. Watt, Lansing, Mich., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application September 14, 1945, Serial No. 616,331

(ci. ca -33) 4 Claims'.

A The present invention relates to an improvement in a. feed mechanism particularly adapted `f or use with or as4 a. part of an automatic firearm of the character disclosed in Patents Nos. 1,525,065, 1,525,066, and 1,692,328 issued in the name of John M. Browning.

With feed mechanisms `of the type disclosed in the aforementioned patents, considerable dimculty has been experienced due to over-feeding of the belt of ammunition. Ammunition for such guns is supplied in the form of a belt of Acartridges formed by the so-called disintegrating type of belt links, In such a gun the cartridges are fed transversely into a feed box 1ocatedon top of the gun. Lateral movement is .imparted to the belt of cartridges by the feed slide to bring the foremost cartridge underneath a'stripper cam which strips the cartridge downwardly out of the belt link. However, due to the .high speed at which the feeding mechanism op- ;erates, the remainder of the belt of cartridges, through inertia or other causes, occasionally continues to move through the feed box so that a second cartridge is stripped orat least partially .stripped from the link. This condition naturally Aproduces a jam in the feed box and interrupts -the firing of the gun. A similar difficulty may -be encountered in manually feeding cartridges into the gun by operation of a suitable feed lever. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a device which may be readily attached toa gun similar to those described in the aforementioned patents which will prevent over-feeding of a belt or-strip of cartridges. The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will clearly appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying-drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the cartridge entering side of a feed box for an auto- ',matic firearm of the type disclosed in the aforementioned patents to Browning; 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the operating elements'of Fig. 1 embodying this invention. For purposes of clarity the surroundcomponents of the feed box of Fig. 1 which do not relate to this invention have not been shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 3 is a top view of the elements shown in Fig. 4 .is an enlarged partial sectional view of the feed slide showing the cam track formed thereon.

In Fig. 1 there is shown a machine gun comprising a. casing or receiver portion 2 and a feed box li mounted on top of the receiver 2. In the modification disclosed, the cartridge entering side of the feed box is shown on the right hand side of the gun but it should be understood that the invention may be applied to either right hand or left hand feeding mechanisms. A sheet metal chute member 6 is secured to the side of feed box I in alignment with a suitable slot 'I therein to define a feed channel for receiving a belt of cartridges 8 which are secured together by disintegrating links S. The links are preferably of the type described in Patent No. 2,392,280, dated January 1, 1946, in the name of Harold T. Youngren and assigned to the assignee of this application. Such'links are provided with a pair of front and rear stripping tabs I0 which project from the body of the link 9 in a direction parallel to the axis of the cartridges 8 and are somewhat raised above the adjacent portion of the cartridge.

A pair of feed tracks Il are riveted to the top surface of chute member 6 in spaced relation overlying the links 9 on the cartridges 8. Feed tracks Il respectively engage the stripping tabs I0 of the links 9 to support and guide the links into the feed box. Tracks Il communicate with similar tracks I2 provided in the interior of feed box 4 and tracks I2 carry the links to the stripping cams I5 as is more fully described in the aforementioned patents.

Within the feed box i and in overlying relationship -to the path of the belt of cartridges, there is provided a feed slide I3 which is mounted in the feed box 4 for transverse reciprocating movement and is actuated either by firing of the gun or by a manual lever (not shown) to reciprocate back and forth across the feed box and by means of conventional feed pawls IS to successively advance the belt of cartridges into the feed box in position for loading into the chamber of the barrel. 'Ihe drawings fully show that poi'- tion of the feed mechanism to which this invention particularly relates. For details of the machine gun which are not herein fully shown or described, reference may be made to the aforementioned Browning patents.

Adjacent the cartridge entering wall of feed box d, in accordance with this invention, a belt stop pawl bracket 20 is mounted. The belt stop .paWl bracket 2U comprises a generally rectangular member which is secured to the side wall of feed box 4 by bolts 2|. It is provided with a thereby lifted from in front of the stripping tabs on the links and then released to said former tab-engaging position as said feed slide reaches the end of its feeding movement, an angular surface at the front corner of said feed slide for camming said plunger rearwardly during the first portion of the return movement of said feed slide, a vertical surface for maintaining said plunger rearwardly during the middle portion of said return movement, and a dwell at the end of said cam track to permit re-engagement of said plunger therewith for the remainder of the return movement of said feed slide.

ANDREW K. WATT.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,402,564 Bourdelles Jan. 3, 1922 1,429,370 Putnam Sept. 19, 1922 2,352,954 Higson July 4, 1944 2,365,484 Moore Dec. 19, 1944 2,372,462 Webb Mar. 27, 1945 2,375,452 Webb May 8, 1945 2,392,280 Youngren Jan. 1, 1946 

